Friday, July 2, 2010

King of the South?

T.I. calls himself the "King of the South". Ludacris exclaimed "Make millions every year, the South's champion!" on DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win". Lil' Wayne calls himself the best rapper alive. And others, like Andre 3000 and Scarface are more humble about their careers. Even Lil' Flip calls himself "The Freestyle King". My question is: who is the REAL King of the South?

It's probably to no surprise that I would have to say Houston's own, Scarface. FaceMob has been an incredible force in hip-hop since the mid 80's with the Geto Boys. Rappers and fans alike consider Face to be one of the best to ever hold a mic. Face had NY rappers (like Biggie and Jay-Z) come down to the H to see the man live. Scarface's grimy voice mixed with his real lyrics have equaled success many times. With 11 (soon 12) solo albums to his name, Scarface is yet to disappoint with any album. Scarface has never reached the mainstream popularity that many other great rappers have, but I believe that that is strictly because FaceMob is too real for the game. He could care less about living the extravagant life of fame and fortune and focuses on making great music and staying true to all of his people, all the time. Face has sold over 5 million albums in the U.S. to date, including 4 Platinum albums (The Diary, The Untouchable, My Homies and The Fix) and 3 Gold (Mr. Scarface Is Back, Last Of A Dying Breed and The World Is Yours). Not to mention he's done all of this without heavy promotion from major record companies. Scarface is also responsible for the career of another Southern MC, Ludacris as Face is the President and Coordinator of Def Jam South. Face has worked with Nas, Jay-Z, Tupac, Bun B, Snoop, Kool G Rap, Kanye West, Ice Cube and countless others. Scarface IS the King of the South. Sorry Tip.